The "What's on your mind?" Thread -2017

[dahli6]

To change the subject to something happier, AWM and I were talking about rashes. Both LS and I have sensitive skin, and we'd get rashes at the drop of a hat (or brush of a plant, or playing in sand, or something). Once, when I was a kid and shortly after DD and AWM divorced, IB, DD, and I were up at a family reunion (they used to have one every year), and on that particular trip I brushed against--something, I guess, but didn't really notice anything until one of my aunts screamed and pointed. I had a red, blotchy rash running from my left shoulder down to my wrist (summers were hot and I wore as few clothes as I could get away with). The aunt started yelling something about taking me to a doctor immediately and another aunt calmly said, "It doesn't hurt, itch, or burn so it's merely--what was the word you used Tally?" "Aesthetic," I replied.

This quite oddly reminds me of when my kids were little. My son was a hysterical crier, sometimes in mid-cry he would inhale until he passed out. The first few times I saw it it scared the heck out of me but after running it by his pediatrician I was assured that after passing out he would usually start breathing normally and wake up after a few seconds. Whenever strangers or not often seen family members saw it they would get really upset and I was completely casual.
Oh and one time my daughter bit a piece of Popsicle and swallowed wrong starting to choke, her father got really scared. I was like, dude it's ice and she is 96 degrees.

 

[dahli6]

One of my coworkers is being torn into shreds about her daughter's condition. The girl is about six or seven years old, and has been in and out of the ER multiple times within the past week. For the most part, the kid's completely fine--then she gets a splitting headache, her eyes go out of focus, and she gets a heavy nosebleed. No fever, no raised blood pressure--nothing like that. She seems, apart from the headache and nosebleeds (which are so severe that the hospital has been administering clotting agents when they come in), to be perfectly healthy. She's active, she's bright, and she's socially average (meaning a lot of time on Facebook, but not obsessively so). She has been diagnosed with everything from migraines to PTSD. (She's seven. PTSD from what, exactly?) She told me that one doctor even claimed the child was "pretending" to have headaches for attention (and I guess she pretended really hard to get the nosebleeds). All I can do is offer a shoulder to cry on, poor girl.

I hope they find the problem and everyone can be ok.

 

[di and bob]

tallyollyopia, please get hold of your co worker and have her doctor research a treatment that is recommended now to a lot of patients with severe nosebleeds. I gave it to a little girl that was going to the ER too, her Dr. prescribed it and it works like a champ! Just make sure the Dr. prescribes it, or tries it. It is Afrin nasal spray, HAS to be Afrin, no generics, (may have a different filler ingredient). Put it on a cotton swab and swab the inside of the nostril that is heavily bleeding.It shrinks the membranes, and the bleeding vessels and stops the bleeding, worked every time!I would think it would be a lot safer tahn giving anticlotting agents.
An allergy intolerance is a LOT different from a true allergic reaction. Diarrhea, upset stomach, rashes and vomiting are all intolerances and may be gone in adulthood or eventually overcome by the body's own defences. Hives, swelling and changes in consciousness and breathing are all allergic reactions and need to be diagnosed and addressed by a Dr. An Epi-pen should be carried at all times, or Benadryl be administered ASAP with both. Benadryl helps to stop the chain of events leading to an anaphylactic reaction and works well for both. Of course call your Dr. first, even before trying an over the counter med, just because you can buy them without a prescription doesn't mean they can't be harmful.

 

[muffy]

Cats cannot usually digest cow's milk, they get diarrhea from it. It's called lactose intolerance. So if you fed your cat milk (oh, they love it so!) it would constantly have loose stools. Well, so do I when I indulge in regular dairy products. We now have milk and ice cream without lactose, you can feed that to your cat without problems and I can have ice cream again. I think there are more people with lactose intolerance than they believe. Only people who for many thousands of generations have lived on a dairy based diet do not usually suffer from that. That leaves out many people in the US who are a mixture of many ethnic groups including all the Mediterranean people, near Easterners, Asians, most Africans and American tribal people. It's really only

Cats cannot usually digest cow's milk, they get diarrhea from it. It's called lactose intolerance. So if you fed your cat milk (oh, they love it so!) it would constantly have loose stools. Well, so do I when I indulge in regular dairy products. We now have milk and ice cream without lactose, you can feed that to your cat without problems and I can have ice cream again. I think there are more people with lactose intolerance than they believe. Only people who for many thousands of generations have lived on a dairy based diet do not usually suffer from that. That leaves out many people in the US who are a mixture of many ethnic groups including all the Mediterranean people, near Easterners, Asians, most Africans and American tribal people. It's really only Northern Europeans who do not have the sensitivity to cows' milk.

I agree that too many people will blame the latest fad on whatever ails them. I do not eat prepared food (I like to cook and it's all "from scratch" and mostly from my garden or the farmers' market) although I do eat sourdough bread with very few ingredients. This is how people ate for centuries.

Northern Europeans who do not have the sensitivity to cows' milk.

I agree that too many people will blame the latest fad on whatever ails them. I do not eat prepared food (I like to cook and it's all "from scratch" and mostly from my garden or the farmers' market) although I do eat sourdough bread with very few ingredients. This is how people ate for centuries.

Segelkett:

I agree with you that it is probable something in prepared food that is causing my problem with IBS. I have other health issues that prevent me from doing a lot of my own cooking so I am left with either frozen or canned products.

I don't understand the poster that was complaining about IBS. I don't see anyone here or anywhere else complain about having IBS. I see ads on TV about it but that is just someone trying to make money off their product.

I had 8 cats and none of them liked milk. So milk was not the problem with poor Roger. They did test on him but they could not find out what his problem was. He had leukema but I don't think that was causing his diarrhea.

Muffy

 

[kashmir64]

One of my coworkers is being torn into shreds about her daughter's condition. The girl is about six or seven years old, and has been in and out of the ER multiple times within the past week. For the most part, the kid's completely fine--then she gets a splitting headache, her eyes go out of focus, and she gets a heavy nosebleed. No fever, no raised blood pressure--nothing like that. She seems, apart from the headache and nosebleeds (which are so severe that the hospital has been administering clotting agents when they come in), to be perfectly healthy. She's active, she's bright, and she's socially average (meaning a lot of time on Facebook, but not obsessively so). She has been diagnosed with everything from migraines to PTSD. (She's seven. PTSD from what, exactly?) She told me that one doctor even claimed the child was "pretending" to have headaches for attention (and I guess she pretended really hard to get the nosebleeds). All I can do is offer a shoulder to cry on, poor girl.

Sounds a lot like a migraine. From birth to 3 I had seizures. Those stopped and from then on it was migraines. Never got a nose bleed from it though. But, that could be a symptom I just never got. It really upsets me that anyone would say she's faking it for attention. I get them about twice a week and I want to hurt people who say "it's just a bad headache, take an asprin". It doesn't work that way. It also angers me when people have a bad headache and call it a migraine. These same people are on their computers at work and eating something. Sometimes I get nasty and look those people straight in the eye and say "It's not a migraine or you wouldn't be sitting here".
I feel for the girl and completely understand her pain. Tell your co-worker to give her a hug for me. I do understand what she's going through.

(Of course, if Samai has some bigger cats in there, she could get up to twenty or twenty-five--something else I learned when I was worried that he wouldn't stop growing.)

I showed her picture in 'what breed is my cat' and members think she has some Siberian somewhere. So she will get much bigger.

 

[kashmir64]

I get to go pick up my son in 1/2 hour. He's been gone a week and I've been a mess without him. His cousin took him on a tour of ASU while he was there, he really likes it and thinks it may suit him well. Don't know how I'm going to handle him being gone all the time. I know he needs to start his own life and possibly family down the road. But I'll miss him horribly. That and I'll have to keep Onsa for a few years longer while he's there. Then she will go with him. Double whammy.
But I'm excited to go get him and have him here for as long as he will stay. I have such mixed feelings right now. I'm so glad he's growing up....but who gave him permission to grow up!

 

[segelkatt]

Oh yes, I know. My husband has November 21st off so we can surrender the most recent group of kittens, well 4 or 5 of them anyway. That would be my first opportunity. If I can't hold her by then I will have to wait.

ugh, since everyone seems to be talking about food issues...
I agree with the consensus that too many people claim to be gluten intolerant. I don't dismiss people because of it though. If they say they have allergies or are intolerant then I avoid using foods in those groups but my personal feeling is that a real medical issue has been publicized and marketed and turned into a fad.
This happens a lot, I noticed a spike in Autism diagnosis too. Either these kids are the next step in evolution or ASD is the hot new diagnosis for kids who don't sit still or know how to follow along with the group. It is frustrating because some people really do need help (therapy, intensive structure, unconfusing explanations and one on one attention) while others just need discipline and gentle guidance.

My personal journey; when I was a child my mother discovered that I was citrus intolerant(not allergic but intolerant). As a child any citrus at all caused explosive results. In my teens it tapered off only to return with a vengeance in my adult years but I was honestly never a big fruit eater. I love berries and melons but melons are sometimes troublesome too. I have to wear gloves when I handle raw tomatoes and tomato vines.
When I was in my teens two new actual allergies became apparent. They actually do affect my immune system and one of them is actually worsening to a point that it causes me trouble breathing. I got my ears pierced and after everything was fine but when I changed from my piercing studs to regular earrings my ears started itching. They swelled around the earrings and got kind of yucky. We thought it was an infection, I stopped wearing them and after a few days they cleared up. I wore earrings and it happened again. I started getting rashes from necklaces and bracelets too. I switched to hypoallergenic plastic earrings and I had a nearly identical reaction but it also made my eyes and skin itch.
I have tried various metals, plastics, vinyls... I can't wear make up or sun screen. Those are actually distressing because society seems to view cosmetics as a mark of a woman and I have never been able to wear them for very long because they make me itch, they affect my breathing. When I have found one I could wear comfortably people stare so I take it off.

My parents didn't take me to the doctor over every little thing when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. I was never formally diagnosed with anything. Common sense; if the kid barfs and or has diarrhea after eating certain foods and only after eating those foods then don't give them those foods.
My allergies to metals and anything plastic or latex are undocumented but people have seen the effects of these things on my body and both allergies are getting worse. In recent years I have had to stop eating nuts and carrots altogether. Recently I am having trouble with potatoes. I am even allergic to my own sweat.
When people approach me wanting to help my overcome my limitations by offering substitutes and alternatives because those things worked for them I don't get mad or offended. They are basing my allergy on their perceived sensitivity and thinking that what worked for them will work for me. I know it won't.
Things I get a little offended by; the looks I get from people when I wear a hoodie and several layers of clothing in the summer. I sunburn but can't wear sunblock. I learned years ago that dressing in layers can be insulating and at worst soaks the sweat away from my skin if I wear the right fabrics. When I dress like that in 90 degree temps people get upset at me.

If gluten-intolerance is really on the rise and not just a fad then people need to look more closely at ingredient labels.

I read a report that said gluten intolerance or allergy is something that only 10% of people have and only 1% of the US population has celiac disease. This sudden explosion of people claiming to have either one makes me think that they like the attention they get when moaning and groaning about their imagined affliction. This does not make the small percentage that do have it not worth my sympathy.

 

[margd]

One of my coworkers is being torn into shreds about her daughter's condition. The girl is about six or seven years old, and has been in and out of the ER multiple times within the past week. For the most part, the kid's completely fine--then she gets a splitting headache, her eyes go out of focus, and she gets a heavy nosebleed. No fever, no raised blood pressure--nothing like that. She seems, apart from the headache and nosebleeds (which are so severe that the hospital has been administering clotting agents when they come in), to be perfectly healthy. She's active, she's bright, and she's socially average (meaning a lot of time on Facebook, but not obsessively so). She has been diagnosed with everything from migraines to PTSD. (She's seven. PTSD from what, exactly?) She told me that one doctor even claimed the child was "pretending" to have headaches for attention (and I guess she pretended really hard to get the nosebleeds). All I can do is offer a shoulder to cry on, poor girl.

Do you know if the hospital has done a spinal tap to test for meningitis? I had a friend whose daughter passed away after two weeks of ER visits and multiple diagnoses of migraines. By the time she was tested, it was too late to save her. It really could be migraine - I've had them for years and she's got all the symptoms but just to be on the safe side...

The doctor who claimed the child was pretending to have headaches for attention has obviously not continued his professional education and needs to retire. "Blame the patient" hasn't been considered a valid approach toward migraine treatment for many, many years now.

 

[segelkatt]

How about shellfish intolerance? I do not break out in hives or anything like that but the smallest piece of shellfish, even just the sauce that clams have been in and carefully picked out, will make me barf until I think my toes will come up. Two of my children have an even stronger reaction, the other two will happily indulge. We can all eat fish and have no trouble with iodine which usually goes along with shellfish intolerance. People will make remarks like "oh too bad, you really can't eat lobster or shrimp? You don't know what you are missing, I'm so sorry you can't eat that." I just tell them that they can have my part of it. Makes everyone happy and the conversation is closed.
My mother started to get red itchy hives on her arms when she was about 55 whenever she came in contact with sprouts on potatoes. Two of my children were allergic to bee stings, had to carry an epi-pen.
Strange how allergies and intolerances work.

 

[dahli6]

How about shellfish intolerance? I do not break out in hives or anything like that but the smallest piece of shellfish, even just the sauce that clams have been in and carefully picked out, will make me barf until I think my toes will come up. Two of my children have an even stronger reaction, the other two will happily indulge. We can all eat fish and have no trouble with iodine which usually goes along with shellfish intolerance. People will make remarks like "oh too bad, you really can't eat lobster or shrimp? You don't know what you are missing, I'm so sorry you can't eat that." I just tell them that they can have my part of it. Makes everyone happy and the conversation is closed.
My mother started to get red itchy hives on her arms when she was about 55 whenever she came in contact with sprouts on potatoes. Two of my children were allergic to bee stings, had to carry an epi-pen.
Strange how allergies and intolerances work.

My niece has thalassemia minor. Her body can't process iron, she literally sweats it out of her body. Shellfish, sea food and peanuts make her very sick. Not anaphylaxis but it works her body too hard and can cause her organ failure.
When she was little a family member who babysat her thought my sister was lying abput her dietary restrictions and insisted on feeding her iron fortified foods, foods high in iron, tuna and legumes.

On my other post, I didn't mean to sound uncaring. I show concern through nurturing actions. I treat everyone equally and don't question their restrictions, even if I don't believe in them. I just try to do my best.

 

[muffy]

On my other post, I didn't mean to sound uncaring. I show concern through nurturing actions. I treat everyone equally and don't question their restrictions, even if I don't believe in them. I just try to do my best.{/Quote]
Dahli6, You are not uncaring. You are one of the nicest person posting in this forum. I am also low on iron but they have not found out the reason why.

Muffy

 

[Margret]

And here hereditary hemochromatosis tends to run on my father's side of the family. (Welcome) I'm fortunate that it doesn't happen on my mother's side of the family; you have to get the gene from both sides to be affected.

Her idea is this--about the same time that IBS became a common medical complaint (and I'm convinced it's a symptom, not a diagnosis--no matter how it's treated!) is the same time that farmers started using genetically modified crops. It seems like the kind of things companies would want hushed up--but then I'm the cynical, suspicious sort.

Most GMO crops have been modified in one of two ways. Either they're more resistant to bugs because they manufacture their own pesticides (how could that possibly be dangerous to people?!) or they've been modified to make them more resistant to herbicides so that a whole field can be sprayed and only the weeds will be wiped out. Which means that because of the modification the herbicides are being fed to us.

I keep thinking that these are the same folks who thought it was a good idea to add beef to cattle feed. Come on, cows are herbivores, and they thought it was good to not only turn them into carnivores but into cannibals? How sick can you get? Mad cow disease should have been no surprise after that.

One of my coworkers is being torn into shreds about her daughter's condition. The girl is about six or seven years old, and has been in and out of the ER multiple times within the past week. For the most part, the kid's completely fine--then she gets a splitting headache, her eyes go out of focus, and she gets a heavy nosebleed. No fever, no raised blood pressure--nothing like that. She seems, apart from the headache and nosebleeds (which are so severe that the hospital has been administering clotting agents when they come in), to be perfectly healthy. She's active, she's bright, and she's socially average (meaning a lot of time on Facebook, but not obsessively so). She has been diagnosed with everything from migraines to PTSD. (She's seven. PTSD from what, exactly?) She told me that one doctor even claimed the child was "pretending" to have headaches for attention (and I guess she pretended really hard to get the nosebleeds). All I can do is offer a shoulder to cry on, poor girl.

Some doctors think that anything they can't diagnose in a child must be an attempt to get attention. These doctors should be kept strictly away from children.

I got my ears pierced and after everything was fine but when I changed from my piercing studs to regular earrings my ears started itching. They swelled around the earrings and got kind of yucky. We thought it was an infection, I stopped wearing them and after a few days they cleared up. I wore earrings and it happened again. I started getting rashes from necklaces and bracelets too. I switched to hypoallergenic plastic earrings and I had a nearly identical reaction but it also made my eyes and skin itch.

They say that most earring allergies are to the nickel in the posts. Of course, that says nothing about plastic, but somehow I find a plastic allergy to be unsurprising. The chemicals they use to make hard plastics are extremely toxic.

Please note that I am not saying that you have a nickel allergy, just that it may be worth checking for metal earrings that don't contain nickel.

Oh and one time my daughter bit a piece of Popsicle and swallowed wrong starting to choke, her father got really scared. I was like, dude it's ice and she is 96 degrees.

I was once having breakfast in a small restaurant with a friend who had just taken a life-saving course, when I swallowed something the wrong way. So I was coughing, and straining to get air in, and coughing some more, and my friend was saying "Are you choking? Do you want me to do the Heimlich Maneuver? I know the Heimlich Maneuver. Let me help you!" I had to get up and back into a corner to keep him from trying the Heimlich Maneuver on me. When it was all over I had to tell him "News flash. A person who is coughing is getting enough air in to cough! Let the coughing take care of it!"

* * * * *​

I ran across this site tonight; it seems to go along with the discussion we were having earlier about carbon dioxide: Halloween Dry Ice Activities - Steve Spangler Science

Margret

 

[Blakeney Green]

Some doctors think that anything they can't diagnose in a child must be an attempt to get attention. These doctors should be kept strictly away from children.

When I was a teenager, I went to the doctor for foot pain and he called me "melodramatic" and said I was making it up. My parents insisted on a second opinion. The second doctor was immediately able to tell that I had a fractured metatarsal because... well, he actually looked rather than starting from the assumption that it was nothing.

That experience made me really wary of doctors who deny that their patients' issues are real. It makes me wonder if some confirmation bias is in play when they don't find anything.

 

[Margret]

When I was a teenager, I went to the doctor for foot pain and he called me "melodramatic" and said I was making it up. My parents insisted on a second opinion. The second doctor was immediately able to tell that I had a fractured metatarsal because... well, he actually looked rather than starting from the assumption that it was nothing.

That experience made me really wary of doctors who deny that their patients' issues are real. It makes me wonder if some confirmation bias is in play when they don't find anything.

I think that doctors have prejudices just like everyone else. Some are prejudiced against children, or teenagers, or women, or...

I've mentioned this before, but my mother had to take my paternal grandmother to the E.R. in the middle of the night once for a broken hip, and the anesthesiologist was rather slow showing up. My mother said "Is he always this late?" and the surgeon said, in a scathing tone of voice, "She!". My mother informed the E.R. that they had to find another surgeon; she would not subject her mother-in-law to a surgeon who had that much contempt for women. And, my mother being the woman she was, she was able to make it stick (she'd worked in hospitals her entire adult life and was accustomed to being obeyed).

Margret

 

[dahli6]

Please note that I am not saying that you have a nickel allergy, just that it may be worth checking for metal earrings that don't contain nickel.

Indeed there was a time that I could wear stainless steel or platinum but the backs were always an alloy. Now the only metal I seem to be able to wear is the surgical titanium in my leg.
I seem more allergic to latex than plastic but I get swelling and itching to plastic and vinyl.
Latex gives me breathing problems.

 

[tallyollyopia]

Oh yes, I know. My husband has November 21st off so we can surrender the most recent group of kittens, well 4 or 5 of them anyway. That would be my first opportunity. If I can't hold her by then I will have to wait.

ugh, since everyone seems to be talking about food issues...
I agree with the consensus that too many people claim to be gluten intolerant. I don't dismiss people because of it though. If they say they have allergies or are intolerant then I avoid using foods in those groups but my personal feeling is that a real medical issue has been publicized and marketed and turned into a fad.
This happens a lot, I noticed a spike in Autism diagnosis too. Either these kids are the next step in evolution or ASD is the hot new diagnosis for kids who don't sit still or know how to follow along with the group. It is frustrating because some people really do need help (therapy, intensive structure, unconfusing explanations and one on one attention) while others just need discipline and gentle guidance.

My personal journey; when I was a child my mother discovered that I was citrus intolerant(not allergic but intolerant). As a child any citrus at all caused explosive results. In my teens it tapered off only to return with a vengeance in my adult years but I was honestly never a big fruit eater. I love berries and melons but melons are sometimes troublesome too. I have to wear gloves when I handle raw tomatoes and tomato vines.
When I was in my teens two new actual allergies became apparent. They actually do affect my immune system and one of them is actually worsening to a point that it causes me trouble breathing. I got my ears pierced and after everything was fine but when I changed from my piercing studs to regular earrings my ears started itching. They swelled around the earrings and got kind of yucky. We thought it was an infection, I stopped wearing them and after a few days they cleared up. I wore earrings and it happened again. I started getting rashes from necklaces and bracelets too. I switched to hypoallergenic plastic earrings and I had a nearly identical reaction but it also made my eyes and skin itch.
I have tried various metals, plastics, vinyls... I can't wear make up or sun screen. Those are actually distressing because society seems to view cosmetics as a mark of a woman and I have never been able to wear them for very long because they make me itch, they affect my breathing. When I have found one I could wear comfortably people stare so I take it off.

My parents didn't take me to the doctor over every little thing when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. I was never formally diagnosed with anything. Common sense; if the kid barfs and or has diarrhea after eating certain foods and only after eating those foods then don't give them those foods.
My allergies to metals and anything plastic or latex are undocumented but people have seen the effects of these things on my body and both allergies are getting worse. In recent years I have had to stop eating nuts and carrots altogether. Recently I am having trouble with potatoes. I am even allergic to my own sweat.
When people approach me wanting to help my overcome my limitations by offering substitutes and alternatives because those things worked for them I don't get mad or offended. They are basing my allergy on their perceived sensitivity and thinking that what worked for them will work for me. I know it won't.
Things I get a little offended by; the looks I get from people when I wear a hoodie and several layers of clothing in the summer. I sunburn but can't wear sunblock. I learned years ago that dressing in layers can be insulating and at worst soaks the sweat away from my skin if I wear the right fabrics. When I dress like that in 90 degree temps people get upset at me.

If gluten-intolerance is really on the rise and not just a fad then people need to look more closely at ingredient labels.

If it makes you feel any better, I can't wear cosmetics either (cosmetics of any kind will give me a horrible, and horrifying, rash)--and that includes all deodorants (including allergen free). Still, I work around it as best as I can.

I hope they find the problem and everyone can be ok.

Me too.

tallyollyopia, please get hold of your co worker and have her doctor research a treatment that is recommended now to a lot of patients with severe nosebleeds. I gave it to a little girl that was going to the ER too, her Dr. prescribed it and it works like a champ! Just make sure the Dr. prescribes it, or tries it. It is Afrin nasal spray, HAS to be Afrin, no generics, (may have a different filler ingredient). Put it on a cotton swab and swab the inside of the nostril that is heavily bleeding.It shrinks the membranes, and the bleeding vessels and stops the bleeding, worked every time!I would think it would be a lot safer tahn giving anticlotting agents.
An allergy intolerance is a LOT different from a true allergic reaction. Diarrhea, upset stomach, rashes and vomiting are all intolerances and may be gone in adulthood or eventually overcome by the body's own defences. Hives, swelling and changes in consciousness and breathing are all allergic reactions and need to be diagnosed and addressed by a Dr. An Epi-pen should be carried at all times, or Benadryl be administered ASAP with both. Benadryl helps to stop the chain of events leading to an anaphylactic reaction and works well for both. Of course call your Dr. first, even before trying an over the counter med, just because you can buy them without a prescription doesn't mean they can't be harmful.

I think it would, too. I'll tell her the next time I see her at work.

Sounds a lot like a migraine. From birth to 3 I had seizures. Those stopped and from then on it was migraines. Never got a nose bleed from it though. But, that could be a symptom I just never got. It really upsets me that anyone would say she's faking it for attention. I get them about twice a week and I want to hurt people who say "it's just a bad headache, take an asprin". It doesn't work that way. It also angers me when people have a bad headache and call it a migraine. These same people are on their computers at work and eating something. Sometimes I get nasty and look those people straight in the eye and say "It's not a migraine or you wouldn't be sitting here".
I feel for the girl and completely understand her pain. Tell your co-worker to give her a hug for me. I do understand what she's going through.


I showed her picture in 'what breed is my cat' and members think she has some Siberian somewhere. So she will get much bigger.

I've had a couple of migraines (thankfully, only a couple) and I know exactly what you mean. It's impossible to function with one of them. One night when I was working a customer noticed I had a horrible headache and told me I needed to call for someone to cover my shift. I told her, "I'm not seeing red, white, or black spots and I can speak in full and coherent sentences which means I can still work." Also means--not a migraine!!!

Do you know if the hospital has done a spinal tap to test for meningitis? I had a friend whose daughter passed away after two weeks of ER visits and multiple diagnoses of migraines. By the time she was tested, it was too late to save her. It really could be migraine - I've had them for years and she's got all the symptoms but just to be on the safe side...

The doctor who claimed the child was pretending to have headaches for attention has obviously not continued his professional education and needs to retire. "Blame the patient" hasn't been considered a valid approach toward migraine treatment for many, many years now.

I don't know if they have, but I would think that (given the multiple outbreaks last year--seriously, three of the public schools were shut down and it felt like everyone was on the antivirals) it would be standard, at this point, to test for it. Then again, that's assuming they actually tested for it, and didn't just say they did. I remember when AWM went to the doctor to get tested for lyme disease--they pricked her finger, sent her home, and called her up a few hours later to say she didn't have it--which is not how the test is run. So--I'll bring it up, just to see.

 

[tallyollyopia]

And here hereditary hemochromatosis tends to run on my father's side of the family. (Welcome) I'm fortunate that it doesn't happen on my mother's side of the family; you have to get the gene from both sides to be affected.


Most GMO crops have been modified in one of two ways. Either they're more resistant to bugs because they manufacture their own pesticides (how could that possibly be dangerous to people?!) or they've been modified to make them more resistant to herbicides so that a whole field can be sprayed and only the weeds will be wiped out. Which means that because of the modification the herbicides are being fed to us.

I keep thinking that these are the same folks who thought it was a good idea to add beef to cattle feed. Come on, cows are herbivores, and they thought it was good to not only turn them into carnivores but into cannibals? How sick can you get? Mad cow disease should have been no surprise after that.


Some doctors think that anything they can't diagnose in a child must be an attempt to get attention. These doctors should be kept strictly away from children.


They say that most earring allergies are to the nickel in the posts. Of course, that says nothing about plastic, but somehow I find a plastic allergy to be unsurprising. The chemicals they use to make hard plastics are extremely toxic.

Please note that I am not saying that you have a nickel allergy, just that it may be worth checking for metal earrings that don't contain nickel.


I was once having breakfast in a small restaurant with a friend who had just taken a life-saving course, when I swallowed something the wrong way. So I was coughing, and straining to get air in, and coughing some more, and my friend was saying "Are you choking? Do you want me to do the Heimlich Maneuver? I know the Heimlich Maneuver. Let me help you!" I had to get up and back into a corner to keep him from trying the Heimlich Maneuver on me. When it was all over I had to tell him "News flash. A person who is coughing is getting enough air in to cough! Let the coughing take care of it!"

* * * * *​

I ran across this site tonight; it seems to go along with the discussion we were having earlier about carbon dioxide: Halloween Dry Ice Activities - Steve Spangler Science

Margret

When I was a teenager, I went to the doctor for foot pain and he called me "melodramatic" and said I was making it up. My parents insisted on a second opinion. The second doctor was immediately able to tell that I had a fractured metatarsal because... well, he actually looked rather than starting from the assumption that it was nothing.

That experience made me really wary of doctors who deny that their patients' issues are real. It makes me wonder if some confirmation bias is in play when they don't find anything.

Yeah. I think it's safe to say that, given her response to talking about that particular doctor he'll never get a chance to get near the girl again--but it does make me wonder about his degree.

I think that doctors have prejudices just like everyone else. Some are prejudiced against children, or teenagers, or women, or...

I've mentioned this before, but my mother had to take my paternal grandmother to the E.R. in the middle of the night once for a broken hip, and the anesthesiologist was rather slow showing up. My mother said "Is he always this late?" and the surgeon said, in a scathing tone of voice, "She!". My mother informed the E.R. that they had to find another surgeon; she would not subject her mother-in-law to a surgeon who had that much contempt for women. And, my mother being the woman she was, she was able to make it stick (she'd worked in hospitals her entire adult life and was accustomed to being obeyed).

Margret

When I was sick in high school most of my doctors seemed to think that, because I was a teenage girl, my problem was either pregnancy, or an STD. Not so--and once dozens, if not hundreds of tests for those two things came out negative, well--clearly the issue was all in my mind! (I found out, years later through experimentation to try and feel better, that the majority of my symptoms were caused by a severe potassium deficiency--and a lot of my minor symptoms by a sodium deficiency. And look! I don't even have a degree! I didn't go to school for at least eight years racking up who knows how many millions in student loans and I fixed it myself. Oh, I'm not completely cured, mind you--still no idea why I suddenly developed the deficiencies--but I can function now.) I think the biggest problem is that GPs (general practitioners) develop what I call "box" syndrome--if the answer isn't in the "box" (i.e., pregnancy, STD, neurological trauma) then it must be "in the mind." It's very frustrating, as a patient, to deal with it. Three cheers to your mom for making them see sense!

Indeed there was a time that I could wear stainless steel or platinum but the backs were always an alloy. Now the only metal I seem to be able to wear is the surgical titanium in my leg.
I seem more allergic to latex than plastic but I get swelling and itching to plastic and vinyl.
Latex gives me breathing problems.

Speaking as someone who's AWM is also allergic to latex--there are a lot of plastics and so-called vinyl (that aren't really vinyl) that either have, or have been treated with, latex. That still might be the core issue. Or, you could just be like LS--she's allergic to everything but gold, cotton, linen, and fur (she has four dogs and volunteers at an animal shelter--she does not have fur coats, vests, or anything of the like). It was very interesting when her then boyfriend (now husband) tried to slip her a shiny nickel ring and tell her that it was white gold, but it's not a psychosematic reaction--and I told her that was a warning sign that she shouldn't marry him, but what could I do? I live on the other side of the country and she's never respected my relationship advice.

 

[tallyollyopia]

All right, pardon me, but I'm going to whine here. I need to vent a little to get this off my chest. To start with--the fair is in town! I was off tonight and it wasn't raining! We went to the fair!!! The first part was great, but let me explain a little why the second part was not-so-much. When I got sick, back in high school, one of the good things that happened was I was diagnosed with epilepsy, but it was very mild, almost unnoticeable--unless I'm hit with strobes. So, at the fair, there were several rides with epileptic warnings on them that we avoided--and we were having a great time. Won a couple games, rode some fun rides, and then we got to this one ride--the Tornado. We stood in line and watched the Tornado for its previous run, and it looked like fun. The different "cups" that people sat in spun, the ride spun, the ride lurched into the air and spun some more--it was fun. (Please notice that not once in that description did I mention flashing lights. That's because, believe it or not, there weren't any.) So, we get on the ride, the ride starts going, we're having fun--and suddenly several strobes start going off! There was no warning on this ride! There were no strobes for the people on the ride in front of us! That is not safe! So, I went to one of the county booths (manned by people who work for the city's recreation planning department) and complained. Not about the fair in general. Not about the price of everything. Not whiny, prissy little complaints. I didn't complain that the ride had strobe lights--I complained that it had no warning. Sure, strobes are necessary for some people to have fun, and I can kind of see that the strobes in question might have been meant to simulate lightning. I get it. I really do. But there should have been a warning. And he said that if I was so "sensitive" to flashing lights I shouldn't have gone to the fair!

Really, up until that part it was great fun. There was a show with sea lions and I got my picture taken with two of them. (I had to laugh because one of them refused to come over for pictures until it saw the other one getting attention--startled me by coming right up to me and laying its head on my shoulder.) Got some cotton candy. (Regretted the cotton candy...) I was just having fun, for the first time in a long time.

Good thing I know people who work management at the Recreation Department. As soon as they open tomorrow they are going to get a piece of my mind!

 

[dahli6]

, you could just be like LS--she's allergic to everything but gold, cotton, linen, and fur

I thought I was being too picky or something. When I wear cotton or linen my sweat reaction is not as bad.
Years ago I treated myself to high quality platinum earrings. They cost me a lot of money but the jeweler included platinum backs. Those I could wear for half a day.
They were in my daughter's jewelry bag when I left my ex. Special jewelry I had bought to commemorate her skating wins, I left them behind.

I do not get involved in domestic issues. Learned the hard way that even joining a friend in condemning the spouse or S.O. will bite me back.
I have known many people like your friend.

 

[tallyollyopia]

I thought I was being too picky or something. When I wear cotton or linen my sweat reaction is not as bad.
Years ago I treated myself to high quality platinum earrings. They cost me a lot of money but the jeweler included platinum backs. Those I could wear for half a day.
They were in my daughter's jewelry bag when I left my ex. Special jewelry I had bought to commemorate her skating wins, I left them behind.

I do not get involved in domestic issues. Learned the hard way that even joining a friend in condemning the spouse or S.O. will bite me back.
I have known many people like your friend.

Yeah, for LS (Little Sister) platinum is just as bad as nickel. Sounds like you have skin like hers. And staying out of domestic issues is probably the safest course to dealing with them.